In retrospect, why didn't Handshake (HNS) work out?

I think they had ambitious goals but it wasn't clear what their near term value proposition was.

ENS has a similar grand vision but also crystal clear immediate value.

Verifying the recipient address before sending assets is a widespread UX stress point. Replacing that with a short name solves a clear pain point.

this is it, and it's what most folks use ENS for: an easy way to remember/replace their 0x address

i think of ENS like an e-mail address, a simple way to send and receive things and you can use it to sign up for apps/products